ISIS supporters posted photos to Twitter of fighters from the militant group in control of Russian Sukhoi warplanes, as well as missiles and tanks seized after the jihadists overran the Syrian air base of Tabaqa [7]. The fall of the base gives ISIS full control over Raqqa [7] governorate. Syrian government forces withdrew from the base after a battle that lasted five days, leaving 195 government troops and 346 ISIS fighters dead. The images appear to contradict the Damascus governemnt's claim that all aircraft had been evacuated form the base before it fell. (IraqiNews.com [8], Aug. 28; AP [9], Aug. 25)
Syrian rebels, including the Nusra Front [10], meanwhile seized control of a crossing with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 20 soldiers and four rebels were killed in the fighting for the crossing. The heavy fire strayed across the border into the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan, where the Israeli army said one of its officers was moderately wounded. (Syrian Observer [11], Aug. 28)
